A SOLICITOR questioned a police officer's 'sensitivity' after she claimed to have smelled cannabis as a car passed her on the M65 motorway.

Blackburn magistrates heard the driver was over the limit for cannabis but Gareth Price suggested a young man driving at 12.50am was an obvious target for the officer.

"The officer was driving on the motorway when her car was overtaken by the defendant's car and apparently she could smell cannabis, remarkable," said Mr Price.

Phillip Sutton, 30, of Moss Hall Road, Accrington, pleaded guilty to drug driving. He was fined £323 with £85 costs and £34 victim surcharge and banned from driving for 12 months.

Laura Peers, prosecuting, said the officer saw a white Mercedes overtake her and there was a "strong" smell of cannabis coming from the vehicle.

Sutton failed a roadside drug swipe and a subsequent blood test revealed a reading of 17.5 against the legal limit of two.

Mr Price said at the time of the offence in December his client was struggling.

"He had a period of homelessness after the breakdown of a relationship and he started using cannabis," said Mr Price.

"Since this incident he hasn't used cannabis again and he now has an address and a job."